Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - January 31, 2020

HOT

Big Deal

IGT and Twin River strike a deal.

After months of trading barbs, counter-claims and political battling, the two gambling titans struck a deal.

On Thursday, the two companies announced they plan to form a new joint venture to work with the State of Rhode Island moving forward. 

According to two companies, the new construct will "keep IGT’s 1,100 jobs, increase investment in Rhode Island through new construction at Twin River Casino Hotel in Lincoln, ensure that the gaming floor and its slot machines continue to drive over $300 million a year to the State, minimize the risk of systems and technology conversions and overall, enhance Rhode Island’s gaming competitiveness with Massachusetts and Connecticut."

The move comes following a contentious year that saw Twin River challenge IGT's proposed 20-year contract extension.

"This is a new way forward for state-sponsored gaming in Rhode Island," said IGT Chair Bob Vincent at the press announcement. 

Lincoln School's New Boss

Lincoln School in Providence has named alumna Sophie Glenn Lau as the 17th head of school.

“As a student, Lincoln was where I found my voice and learned how to be a leader. As an alumna, I have watched Lincoln’s incredible trajectory with a great sense of pride and enthusiasm. I now look forward to building on that momentum as head of Lincoln School, and to championing the power of an all-girls education on a national scale,” said Lau.

Lau will succeed Suzanne Fogarty, who has been lauded for her dedication and vision since she joined Lincoln as head of school in 2014. 

This comes after the Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of Lau’s appointment.

“Sophie is the right choice to lead Lincoln at this exciting point in school history. She is an accomplished and dynamic leader who will build on Lincoln’s recent successes, including our award-winning STEAM Hub for Girls, our innovative partnership programs, and the expansion of our Little and Lower schools. Her experience in these areas paired with both her strategic approach and passion for learning will shape Lincoln’s future for years to come,” said Russell C. Carey P’16,’31, Chair of the Lincoln Head of School Search Committee.

Lau takes over the role on July 1.

HOT

Three New Companies to Rhode Island

Three new companies will re-locate or expand in Rhode Island, and are slated to create more than 120 new jobs using Commerce Rhode Island’s Qualified Jobs tax credit program.

“Today’s announcement represents another success story for our state’s continued investments in job training and economic development,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo this week. 

“We’re making Rhode Island a hub of innovation, and the expansion of Response Technologies, and the relocation of RESH, Inc., and smartShift Technologies to Rhode Island will create opportunities for over 120 new, good-paying jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and design. It’s critical that we continue supporting all Rhode Island businesses by protecting and growing these proven programs,” she added.

HOT

Chase Moves to Rhode Island

Chase Bank has opened a new branch in downtown Providence. 

The location at 146 Westminster Street, which had its grand opening this week, marks Chase Bank’s second recent entry into the market.

Chase also now has a branch at 234 Thayer Street on the East Side, which opened in August 2019. 

While Chase is new to the state, JPMorgan Chase is not. It has had a presence in the market since 2017, with the Commercial Bank, Private Bank and Real Estate.

According to the company, with the expansion of retail, its commercial and private banking practices are also growing.

Chase plans to open 12 branches and 20 ATMs in Rhode Island in the next five years.

NOT

Providence Place Mall

A video obtained by GoLocalProv.com shows a man being asked to leave the Apple Store at Providence Place Mall threaten to shoot an employee. 

WARNING: Explicit Language - WATCH HERE

The unidentified man can be seen getting belligerent with an Apple Store employee, saying, “You jump me boy? You little girl?”

As the man becomes more agitated, the employee tells him, “You’ve got to go. You’ve got to get out of here, OK?”

The man starts to walk out, but turns around and shouts the following towards the employee, while other customers are in the store. 

“I’m a nice guy right…but I’ll [expletive] shoot you in your [expletive] face another day, boy,” he said.

He leaves the store, but then turns around to come back. 

“I’ll [expletive] blow your [expletive] brains out, boy!” he said. 

NOT

Stop & Shop Robot Marty

Melissa Gaethofs, the florist manager at the Stop and Shop in North Kingstown, took to social media to criticize the company's celebration of "Marty" the robot's first birthday.

"While the robot was being celebrated today for its first birthday, us human employees were busy taking care of our human customers. Our local elementary school had a sweetheart dance tonight and we didn’t stop all day. From custom corsages to leis (love making leis), we had better things to bring our attention to," she wrote.

Gaethofs continued:

"You can celebrate Marty all you want Stop and Shop, but not without me chiming in with my two cents. Let’s get back to basics please. And by basics I mean let’s focus on your people first. Your customers and your employees," she said.

"The day Marty makes a custom wrist corsage for a customer is the day I celebrate the robot. Until then, I’ll be over here taking care of business," wrote Gaethofs.

25% of American Workers Face "High Risk" of Their Jobs Being Lost

In April of 2019, Stop & Shop workers went on strike for a new contract, but the workers face greater threats in the future.

A 2019 report found that up to 25 percent of American jobs face a “high risk” of disappearing due to future machine automation.

In the report by the Washington-based Brookings Institution, researchers identified about 36 million U.S. jobs as having “high exposure” to automation.

"Among jobs facing the greatest risk are those in office administration, production, transportation and food preparation, the report says. Jobs in these fields may be replaced with technology-driven by machine learning and artificial intelligence," found the report.

PHOTO: Marty, the Robot, Stop and Shop, u/PattyPan420 _Jan_2020

NOT

Coronavirus

"The number of people in China infected with the coronavirus has reached 9,692, surpassing the worldwide total of the deadly Sars virus as public anger mounted within the country over the official response to the crisis," reports the Financial Times.

Brown Alpert Medical School Professor Selim Suner, who is the Director for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital, said that people in the U.S. who have not traveled to China should "not panic" at the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus. 

"This is a novel coronavirus, which means we’ve never seen this virus in the world before," said Suner. "Coronaviruses are ubiquitous, they’re everything where, and people get them all the time without getting sick."

"The death toll from the coronavirus epidemic originating from the central Chinese city of Wuhan was 213 in China with another 1,527 in serious condition, the country’s National Health Commission said on Friday. About 8,100 people were infected and 774 died from Sars in 2003 after health authorities initially covered up the outbreak," reports the FT on Friday morning.

NOT

Gina Raimondo's Business Partner Appointment

Late last Friday afternoon, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced her nominations for the newly-created University of Rhode Island Board of Trustees. Her nominations include her business partner in Point Judith Capital, David Martirano.

Rhode Island invested in Raimondo and Martirano’s fund, now rebranded "PJC" -- and it has been one of the worst-performing investments for the State’s retirement fund.

In 2016, Raimondo tried to name Martirano, a managing partner in the venture fund, to the board of the Convention Center. 

The appointment was submitted to the State Senate for advice and consent. After GoLocal's repeated inquiries, Raimondo withdrew the nomination of Martirano.

Point Judith Capital Still Under Scrutiny

A column published in Forbes by top SEC whistleblower Edward Siedle in December states, “The state pension remains unable to extricate itself from a losing $5 million investment in a Point Judith Capital Partners Venture II fund Governor Raimondo sold to ERSRI 13 years ago." Siedle wrote:

The investment made in 2007 was supposed to involve a 10-year commitment by the pension and terminate three years ago.

Sadly, this has become “the gift that keeps on taking”—from the pensioners that is—and keeps on giving both fees and reputational cover to Raimondo.”

Raimondo’s office could not answer if they had cleared Martirano’s appointment with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.

Her office responded only with a statement that addressed a previous ruling pertaining to her blind trust. 

"The Ethics Commission gave an advisory opinion which stated that 'the Petitioner informs that she intends to recuse in the manner set forth above. She has also taken appropriate measures to distance herself from Point Judith and her investments in its funds, through her resignation from the firm and by the creation of the Blind Trust to manage her investments,'" said Raimondo's office on Friday. 

Raimondo is still facing the findings of the Ethics Commission relating to the IGT contract.